


I wish I was Ok.

by Evilkat23



Category: Drachenreiter | Dragon Rider - Cornelia Funke
Genre: Bullying, Minor Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-05-08
Updated: 2014-08-03
Packaged: 2018-01-24 01:08:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,650
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1586102
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Evilkat23/pseuds/Evilkat23
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ben finds himself being bullied, he does his best to hide it, but, what happens when the bully takes things too far?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Ok, So, I like this story and hope you guys do as well, and yes, Firedrake and Sorrel will show up in this story.

Benjamin Greenbloom raced though the school hallways, the warning bell rang over head and he picked up the pace. He couldn't be late, it'd be the third time this week and that would mean detention. The twelve year old turned a corner only to run right into someone else. Hitting the ground, his books and papers fell out of his hands and landed on the floor.

"Well, well, if it isn't the boy nobody wants." Came a spiteful voice that Ben knew all too well.

"Carman..." Ben said, picking up his papers and books off the ground. When he reached for a piece of paper, Carman brought his foot down on Ben's hand. The young boy let out a hiss of pain.

Looking up, he glared at Carman.

Carman was by far bigger than Ben, by at least a foot or two. He was lean and strong, that of course wasn't anything new, he was part of the baseball team. Ben snorted, typical jock picking on a lonely boy. Carman also had dark brown hair and equally dark brown eyes.

Carman smirked and dug his heel into Ben's hand.

"So tell me, what is it like? being a throwaway?" Carman asked, a sneer on his lips. Ben narrowed his eyes but said nothing, not wanting to give Carman the satisfaction. He knew what Carman was talking about, of course, his adoption into the Greenbloom family.

It made him wonder, why were they making fun of him for this? Shouldn't be good that Ben got adopted to start with? apparently not.

"Hey! Throwaway! I'm talking to you! I know you can hear me!" Carman said with a growl, Ben narrowed his eyes at the bigger boy.

"Hey! what's going on here!?" Came a demanding voice, Ben knew that voice as well, it was Mr. Williams the social studies teacher. To his relief, Carman lifted his foot off of Ben's hand. Almost instantly the pale boy rubbed his sore hand.

"Oh nothing, Mr. Williams, you see, Benny here just tripped. I was helping him pick up his things." Carman said picking up one of Ben's book.

"Don't call me, Benny." Ben growled under his breath. Standing up, the twelve year old quickly gathered his stuff, taking the book out of Carman's hand, he hurried down the hallway. He just wanting to get to his class without being late.

As soon as he stepped foot into the room, the bell rang and sighed with relief. Getting to his seat, he placed his books and papers down. He rubbed his sore hand once more. It was red, he just hoped that Carman didn't bruise a bone, It was his writing hand.

The teacher started up the lesson and Ben had to put his injury aside.

He tried his best to write, but, it was still sloppier than his normal handwriting. At least it was somewhat comprehensible.

He paused his writing, giving his hand a slight break. Looking at it, he noticed that it was turning from red to a dark purple color, he narrowed his eyes at it, not that it's going to help it.

'Carman, I really don't understand your logic, calling me adopted isn't getting on my nerves. Yes, I'm adopted, but, I have a happy life and I'm not on the streets anymore...'

Ben thought, all the while unconsciously rubbing his hand.

The sound of the dismissal bell made him jump in surprise.

'Is class over already?...man...I'm not having a good day.' He thought, picking up his papers, pencil, and books. He hurried out of the classroom with the rest of the students. Luckily, that was his last class of the day. Now all he had to do was go to his locker, stuff his books and papers in there and head home.

His locker was the easiest one to find. How? easy, It's the one with the word 'Throwaway' written all over it in permanent marker.

He walked over, undid his locker, stuffed his books and papers inside and slammed it shut, Locking it back neatly. He hurried towards the school entrance, Guinevere should be waiting there for him.

Guinevere knew nothing about the bullying, in fact, no one did. Not Professor Greenbloom, not Vita, and especially not Twigleg.

Twigleg would freak out, no, he would go beyond freak out.

"Ben? yoohoo!" A hand passed in front of his eyes, he blinked and turned around and was looking into Guinevere's face.

"Hey, I'm going to hang out with Ayanna today, so you can walk home by yourself...which I guess is what you were going to do anyway seeing that you walked right passed me." She said straightening the bag on her shoulder and Ben just smiled.

"I would never!" He teased and she tapped his shoulder playfully.

"Yeah right, anyway, see you later tonight." She said and walked off.

Ben smiled and walked out of the school. Home wasn't too far, maybe a half an hour walk. The smile stayed on his face, Firedrake should be visiting soon, he had no clue when but he knew it'd be between this month and next month. He knew it was going nice, he couldn't wait.

"Hey! Throwaway!"

Ben growled, not wanting to deal with Carman, he picked up his speed.

"Woah there, Throwaway!"

Carman's strong hand grasped Ben's shoulder. Carman gave it an uncomfortable squeeze, then pulled Ben back.

"I didn't get a thanks for helping you earlier...how's your hand?" Carman asked, grabbing Ben's bruised hand, he then squeezed it tight. Ben let out a soft squeak of pain.

"Let. Me. Go!" Ben demanded, snatching his hand back. Without hesitation, he turned and ran. His feet pounded against the pavement, luckily, if there was one thing he knew how to do, that was run. He may of been small but he knew how to run fast. Maybe not against a giant roc bird, but against people, he was like Sonic.

He had no clue if Carman was chasing after him or not, but he didn't want to stop to find out, he just kept running. He made it home in record time, bursting though to door, he slammed it shut. He slammed it so hard that it caused the professor, Vita, and Twigleg to turn and look at him with a look of pure confusion.

"...Fairies...Fairies...I ran into a hoard of Fairies..." He lied and walked straight to his room.

He took off his sweat soaked shirt and tossed it in the dirty clothes bin. He grabbed a clean one and put it on.

He sat down on his bed and put his head in his hands and sighed deeply. He hated lying, but, he felt like involving them would make him seem spineless. No. he can do this without their help, he had too...


	2. Chapter 2

Ben did his best to hide his hand from everyone, but in the end, it was professor Greenbloom who found out.

They where putting stuff away in the attic, stacking boxes, going through them, deciding what to keep and what to throw out. When Ben had tried to stack a box too high, well, higher than him anyway, The professor reached up and helped him, once the box was stacked, noticed the now greenish color of Ben's hand.

"Is that a bruise?" Professor Greenbloom asked, as he grabbed Ben's hand. Ben yelped in surprise, he felt Barnabas move his hand a bit to look at the bruise a little better.

"How did this happen?" The professor asked, Ben just shrugged a little and brought his hand back.

"I wasn't paying attention and slammed it in my locker, it's nothing really." Ben lied, if there one thing Ben wasn't good at, it was lying. Still, the professor either didn't notice the lie, or just decided to let drop.

"Alright, if you say so. Is everything alright?" He asked Ben, the boy frowned and rubbed his hand, still, he nodded.

"Yes, everything is fine. Why do you ask?"

"It just seems like something is bothering you...You know you can tell me anything right?"

"Of course, Professor, but there's nothing wrong, trust me, I would tell you, now, lets finish stacking these boxes." Ben said with fake enthusiasm and started stacking boxes again, the professor didn't seem so sure, but like before, he let it drop and they continued to work. Finally after a while, they finished up their job. Ben made it back to his room, he started doing his homework. The sound of the pencil scraping on the paper was the only noise Ben heard for a while.

"Young master?"

Ben placed his pencil down and looked down on the floor where Twigleg was, leaning down, Ben picked the homunculus up and placed him next to his paper.

"Hello, Twigleg." Ben said softly and continued to write down the answers to his homework. Twigleg smiled and sat cross-legged watching Ben. The homunculus frowned when he noticed Ben's hand. Getting up he put his tiny hands on Ben's bruised one. It caused Ben to stop writing.

"It's nothing Twigleg, I just slammed it in my locker today, that's all." Ben said to the homunculus gently. Twigleg let go of Ben's hand and sat back down, but, he still had a frown on his face. Ben yawned and stretched his arms up to the air, leaning over his paper, he finished up the last of the problems on the paper and then placed his pencil down. Ben laid his palm out and quickly Twigleg scampered on to it. The homunculus then spoke.

"Did somebody hurt you?" Twigleg ask, it made Ben frown, only Twigleg could see though him that fast. Still, he kept the lie going.

"No, why would you ask that?"

"Because, you are smart, you wouldn't slam your hand into your locker."

"And I didn't, 'just' slam my hand into my locker, it was an accident. I was being an air-head and wasn't paying attention when I shut my locker, that's all." Ben said gently. There was another silence and Twigleg sighed, he didn't seem convinced, but like the professor he let it drop.

"You know, you can come to me if anything is bothering you, you know that right?" Twigleg ask, it made Ben blink, he then smiled and placed and Twigleg back down on the desk.

"I know Twigleg, I know...So, I'm going to shower now. I'll be back in about ten minutes." Ben said and then got out of the chair and headed for the bathroom. Once the door to the bathroom shut, Twigleg sighed deeply.

"Well, that was a bust. The professor was right, this is serious." Twigleg said, rubbing the back of his head.

-Transition-

Ben sighed as he stepped out of the bathroom, dressed in his sleeping clothes, his hair damp. He blinked in surprise when he saw Guinevere sitting on his bed, reading a book.

"Hello." He greeted her, she looked at him and smiled a bit.

"Hey, What's going on?" She asked him, he just looked around and shrugged.

"Just got out of the shower, how was your friend's house?"

"Eh, as fine as it can be...Her mother yells a lot." Guinevere muttered as she turned the page of the book, she then dog eared the corner and shut the novel. She looked up at Ben, he could feel a long talk coming.

"So. Anything you want to talk about?" She asked and he rolled his eyes.

"Not particularly." He told her with a chuckle as he grabbed his own book. Sitting down on his chair, he opened it and started to read. Not even a page in, Guinevere spoke again.

"You know if-"

"-Let me guess, if I have anything on my mind I can come to you?" Ben asked shutting his book and looking at her. She tapped her nose and got up.

"Seriously though." She said placing her hand on Ben's shoulder and then walked out of his room. Ben sighed heavily and put his book on the desk, he didn't feel like reading anymore. No, right now, he just wanted to get some sleep. He looked at the time, it was kind of early, but as they say, early to bed, early to rise and what not.

Throwing his covers back, he crawling into bed and turned out his light. He just wanted to put this day behind him, and sleep for a bit.


	3. Chapter 3

The bell rang overhead, signaling lunch time, Ben let out a sigh and started to pack up his stuff, another library visit, he stopped going to the cafeteria for obvious reasons. Of course, that caused suspicion with Guinevere almost instantly. Just a little bluff about studying cleared it up real quickly, but, Ben figured she was getting suspicious again. The fact that she was waiting outside of his classroom door made him gulp, he knew the question that was coming.

Sure enough, the moment he stepped out, she asked it.

"Wanna eat lunch with me and Ayanna?" She asked, giving Ben the big puppy dog eyes. Of course, Ben couldn't say no to her. All he had to do was sigh and Guinevere knew she had won, with a happy squeak, his sister grabbed Ben by the arm and dragged him towards the cafeteria.

"So, any tests today?" She asked them as they walked with the crowd.

"None so far, I think I might have one in social studies, but, that's after lunch." Ben told her.

"That's gotta be something to look forward to." She teased him, Ben could only chuckle at her.

"I guess..."

They walked in silence, Guinevere still had Ben's arm in a death grip, they made it to the cafeteria, the smell of food hit Ben's nose, he let out a slight sigh as his sister continued to walk him to where Ayanna sat.

Ayanna was a nice enough girl, very skinny, fair skinned, with curly brown hair. She was also very tall, taller than Ben, around 5'6, She was very loud and random, and impulsive it's almost impossible for her to be quiet.

"Hey! What a sight for sore eyes!" Ayanna yelled at Ben, putting him in a headlock. Ben let out an yelp of surprise as he struggled against her, for a skinny girl she sure was strong. She laughed loudly as she proceeded to let go of Ben's head and forced him down at the table, Guinevere giggled at them as she took her own seat across from them.

Normally, they would be with the rest of the children getting their lunch, but, the lines being very long, they decided to wait for it to simmer down before getting their lunch.

"So, Benny, decided to get out of the dusty library?" Ayanna asked him, he felt his lips purse a bit.

"Please, don't call me Benny..." Was all he could tell her, he really didn't like being called that for personal reasons.

There was a silence between the three of them as they waited, Ben looked over at the lines, it was looking shorter. Guinevere let out a slight hum and started to drum her fingers on the table, Ayanna hummed slightly as well and hit her hand on the table in a rhythmic pattern, both of them having the same song in their head apparently, it made Ben feel even more awkward as he just sat there. After a few seconds, Ben got up from the table.

"I'm going to get my lunch now." He told them as he already started to walk away towards the lines. With his hands clasped together, Ben kept to himself, making sure not to accidently bump into anybody else. Before he could get to a line, something touched his shoulder and he was wheeled around so he was face to face with Carman. Instantly his shoulders slumped and he let out an irritable sigh followed by an eye roll.

"Wooo, if I didn't know any better, I'd say little Benny here isn't happy about seeing us." Carman said to his lackies that followed behind him. Ben rolled his eyes again and smacked Carman's hand off of his shoulder.

"Don't call me Benny." Ben said for the second time that day. Turning around, Ben started to walk away, but the hood on his jacket was suddenly snatched and he was yanked back, it made the young boy gasp out, the feeling of his collar digging into his throat wasn't a comfortable one.

"You know, I think I can call you whatever the hell I want, Throwaway." Carman hissed at Ben, keeping a tight hold on the boy's hood. Out of reflex, Ben's hands went up to where his collar was borderline choking him, he tried to pull it away from his neck, but Carman's hold was so tight that it wouldn't budge. 

"Hey!"

'Dammit' Was the only word that registered in Ben's mind as Guinevere and Ayanna walked up to the group that has now formed. Ben couldn't help but notice that Ayanna seemed to be walking slower than Guinevere, in fact, it looked like the girl was staying as far away from this as possible. Guinevere on the other hand stomped right up to Carman and tore his hand off of Ben's hood. Ben let out a happy breath of air as he rubbed the part of his neck where his collar had rubbed against.

"Ohhh~ Back off guys, we got a badass over here." Carman said as Guinevere narrowed her eyes at him.

"C'mon, Guinevere, lets just go get our lunch." Ben whispered to her, trying to pry her away from Carman. Carman gave Ben a sneer and spoke.

"Wow. Having a girl defend you? That's pathetic, even for you." Carman growled at Ben, Ben watched as Guinevere's eyes flared up with anger, acting quickly, Ben grabbed her arm again.

"Let's just go! C'mon, Guinevere, I don't want to get in trouble." Ben told her.

"Ben! He's insulting you! You shouldn't just take it!" Guinevere yelled at him, forcing his grip off of her. Ben stared at her and opened his mouth to say something, but found nothing to say. Carman snickered and, with little to no warning, grabbed Guinevere's arm and jerked her away from Ben, causing a yelp of surprise from Guinevere. Before Carman could do anything, Ben grabbed Carman's arm with one hand and put his other to Carman's throat, he then pushed the bully against the wall.

"DON'T! Touch her...." Ben growled sharply at Carman, no doubt surprising everyone that had surround them. Ben was not a violent person, that was something that everyone knew about him, but, if you go after his friends or family then it goes beyond personal. It was just a reflex to protect his loved ones. Right?

Well, he didn't have time to think on it, because next thing he knew, the wind was knocked out of him and he doubled over in pain. Carman had given Ben a rather hard blow to the stomach. Ben should of watched out for Carman's other hand. Before he could even catch his breath from the blow to the stomach, Carman punched Ben in the face causing the younger boy to stumble, he didn't fall until Carman punched him again, this time square in the face. falling to the ground in a daze, he felt something hard ram against his rib cage. Coughing Ben gasped out. He then did what his brain demanded of him, he curled up in a ball and brought his hands to his head, protecting it.

Before Carman could do anymore damage to Ben, Guinevere reacted. Granted, her reaction to seeing Ben get hurt wasn't as fierce as Ben's reaction to her being grabbed, but, it was still a reaction. She pushed Carman away from her brother. It was just a simple shove, but, it did cause the boy to stop attacking just long enough for men, be them administrator's or teachers, to run up and grab him, stopping him from attack Ben even farther. Another teacher, one that Guinevere knew as Mrs. Joans ran over to help Ben.

Everything after that started to move in a blur, Guinevere hardly remembered any of it, she didn't remember being taken into the vice principal's office, nor did she remember telling the vice principal everything that had happened that provoked the attack warranted on her brother. She did remember the Vice principal telling her to go to the nurses office while he called their parents. She also remembered walking, rather numbly, towards the nurses office.

It didn't take too long for her to get to the office, Ben is laying down on one of the makeshift beds. A baggy full of ice pressed against one of his eyes and it looked like he had another bag of ice against his side, and a tissue on his nose. Probably a bruised rib...it could even be broken, Carman kicked Ben pretty hard. She walked in a little more and noticed that his lip seemed to be busted pretty badly, that's not the only thing that's busted, by the looks of it, his nose took a bad hit as well. The white tissue turning red from the nose blood.

"Ben? Are you ok?" Guinevere asked him softly as she made it to the bed he was laying on. He gave her a soft smile and started to sit up, as he did so, the baggy on his face fell into his lap. Guinevere could see why he had it on now, his eye was turning a nasty shade of black. He smiled at her and spoke.

"I wish I could say that this was the first fight I got in." Ben told her as he removed the tissue. A little bit of blood dribbled down, he quickly wiped it up with a cleaner side of the tissue.

"You got into other fights?" She asked him as she walked over and grabbed a clean tissue for him. He let out a breathy chuckle and just shook his head.

"It...was a while a back."

That made Guinevere frown as she handed him the white tissue, he took it gratefully and put the other one on the side. Whenever Ben says 'a while back' it normally means from when he was alone and he almost never talks about that. It made Guinevere wonder more and more what went down when he was living in that abandoned factory.

"I'll say this much, Carman definitely took me by surprise, I didn't expect him to attack like that, then again, I'm sure he didn't expect me to pin him." Ben muttered softly, grabbing one of the two ice packs and pressed it against his side. Guinevere blinked and then realized something, Ben took that beating from Carman for her. She felt touched, never has anybody really attacked someone just for grabbing her too hard. She really loved having Ben for a brother.

"...Thank you..." Guinevere whispered to him, she then proceeded to give him a gentle hug, Ben let out a soft grunt of discomfort but he still did his best to hug her back that didn't agitate his hurtful rib any father.

"Ahem." Both Ben and Guinevere turned to see the principal of the school, Mrs. Demonca. She was a tallish dark skinned woman with hair so black that it could compete with Ben's own black hair. She had both hands on her hips, but, she looked emotionless, she was more or less silently assessing them. Letting go of Ben, Guinevere opened her mouth to speak, but was stopped when the woman put her hand up.

"Mr. Greenbloom, I understand that you initiated the fight when you pinned Mr. Rodegaze to the wall?" The principal asked him, her voice just as emotionless as her gaze. Ben looked down, then, he slowly nodded.

"Yes Ma'am, but, I had a reason to, you see, he grabbed Guinevere. I know I should of handled it better, but, I just reacted badly." Ben told her quickly. She narrowed her eyes at him and then grabbed his face. She examined the black eye, then his nose. Then, without another word, she let go of Ben's face and backed up.

"Your parents will be here soon, Ms. Greenbloom, go back to your classroom, we'll call you when ready. Mr. Greenbloom lay back down, I can see that your in pain." She ordered, Guinevere frowned, she didn't want to leave him. She almost protested, but, the principal gave her a hard look and she slumped back silently.

"Yes, Ma'am." She said, and the retreated to her class, not before giving Ben one last sad look. As she slowly lumbered to the class she normally has after lunch, she just had to think.

How much trouble was Ben going to be in?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If the name Ayana gets spelled with two N's instead of one I apologize for that.


	4. Chapter 4

Ben sniffled, no, he was not crying, he was just trying to breath though his nose, which was proving to be difficult. He didn't know if maybe the blood decided to dry up in his nostrils or clot up in his nose. Either way his nose was stuffed, he was forced to breath out of his mouth for the time being. At least he did stop bleeding. Another thing was that his left eye, the eye that was given a hard punch to, was starting to get fuzzy and hard to see out of. Maybe his eye was starting to swell, he really just didn't know. What he did know though, was that he was in a lot a pain. He knew that he deserved it though, he shouldn't of grabbed Carman the way he did, Ben knew now that what he did was just beyond stupid. Grabbing the bully, but, what was he to do? Just let Carman grab Guinevere? What would he of done to her if Ben hadn't of stopped him?

Groaning, Ben looked over to where the tissues are, he should get a clean one and maybe try to blow his clogged up nose, not that it would help. If anything, it's be just blood and mucus. Getting off of the bed or whatever it was, he limped over to the tissues. His side didn't like the sudden movement, or any movement for that matter. Still, he bared through it and grabbed the tissue box. He then limped back to the nearest bed and sat back down. Grabbing a clean tissue, he blew his nose. He knew one thing, he didn't want to see what left his nose. Wadding the tissue up, he tossed it to the trashcan, it made it in much to his relief.

Laying down, Ben shut his eyes, he knew that the professor and Vita weren't going to be happy with him. Granted he did have reason to get into a fight, but, that doesn't justify everything. Like Ben putting his hand on Carman's throat, that was a big nono. That's like one of the first thing a kid is taught, never put your hands on somebody else throat, or body parts for that matter. Groaning, Ben put his hands to his face, careful of his eye and nose that is. Hearing footsteps approach, Ben knew it was time to get yelled at. Removing his hands from his face, he sat up, his rib protested a bit, but, he ignored it. Looking the person in doorway, Ben felt his heart drop into the pit of his stomach.

Carman was standing there glaring daggers at Ben. Ben felt fear grip his throat and hold on to him tight. He was alone in a secluded room with the boy that probably wants him dead.

"So...I was suspended, yeah, I was suspended because you grabbed me by the throat! Because I was technically defending myself from you!" Carman growled from the doorway.

"...Carman, I did not fight back after you attack me, yes, I was wrong to grab you the way I did, I see that. But you pushed it when you grabbed my sister! I was defending Guinevere. End of story." Ben responded to Carman as he sat there on the bed. Carman took a step forward into the room, making Ben shift around uncomfortably.

"Your sister? That's funny, you say these people are your family, but, they aren't! They aren't blood!"

"Family is NOT defined by blood!" Ben snapped at him, he was getting real sick of these jokes, he was getting sick of Carman.

"You know who says things like that? Throwaway's like you! Kids who are adopted say that, because they want some sort of excuse. Your blood obviously didn't want you in their line though, can't say I blame them. Who would want you? except for a bunch of fre-"

"SHUT UP! JUST SHUT UP!" Ben found himself shrieking at Carman. Ignoring his rib, he jumped from the bed and got into Carman's face, He never yelled at anybody, he didn't yell at Sorrell when she was having one of her bad days, he never yelled at Twigleg when the homunculus admitted to being a spy, he never yelled at anybody until now. Taking several deep breaths, Ben continued to yell at Carman, just in a lighter tone.

"I never done anything to you! I don't know anything about you aside from your name! You don't know me! The only things you know about me is that I was adopted, and my name! So just do yourself a favor and shut up!" Ben screamed in Carman's face, having enough of the bully. With no warning, Carman grabbed Ben by his collar, but, he didn't hold on to it for long, before Carman could stop himself, he pushed Ben.

If he would of looked around before he pushed Ben, he would of saw the table that he pushed Ben into, it's a shame he didn't.

Ben fell back, the back of his head hitting the sharp edge of the table. He blacked out after that, his body slumped against the floor, eyes closed. Carman let out a soft laugh.

"C'mon man, you're not fooling anyone." Carman growled at Ben, waiting for the smaller boy to open his eyes, Carman put his hands on his hips, his smile then slowly fell when Ben still didn't open his eyes. Walking up to him, Carman nudged the boy with his foot, nothing. Not even a squirm.

"Shi-oh no..." Carman turned his head to the voices nearing the room, backing away from the unconscious boy on the ground, Carman turned tail and ran out, hoping nobody saw him. Once he was sure he was far enough away from the office, he put both hands on his knees and breathed out of his mouth. He didn't mean to do that. It was an accident! he just wanted to push the kid to the ground, not...Not kill him! Oh god! He killed Ben! He committed manslaughter! Murder! He was going to go to jail!

Putting his hand on his mouth, Carman took in more breaths, he gasped out, he just couldn't breath. His breaths came in and out more and more frequent and more erratic. He was going to go to jail...No, No he wasn't...He wasn't going to jail because he was going to run away...Run away and never come back...

He just had to hide for the time being, hide until school was let out, he can do that. Yeah. As he turned towards the bathrooms, he could hear worried voices yelling around the school, he ran like he never did before...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy crap an update that didn't take a month!? I'm messing with you guys. Anyway, I hope you liked it, please review. Also thank you Weirdkid20 for leaving the first review on the story. I appreciate it.


	5. Chapter 5

Carman shakily walked down the deserted road, he's been walking for only god knows how long. It was night time now, the quarter moon hung in the sky with billions upon billions of stars. His legs were sore and his feet felt like they were about to fall off. Carman shivered softly, it was cold out tonight and he didn't have a jacket or anything to keep him warm, hell, he was wearing shorts for Christ sake. How was he to know he was going to run away? How was he to know that he was going to accidently kill someone?

Stopping for a second, Carman put his hand to his face and took a deep breath in. Rocking back and forth softly, he just wanted to lay on the ground and die. How could he have done something so stupid? He never wanted Ben to die. He just wanted to push the kid to the ground, maybe rough him up a little, he never wanted to kill him! Shakily he let out that same breath. Slapping himself across the face, Carman straighten himself up a bit, he continued to walk despite the protest his body was giving him. He needed a place to sleep. His home was obviously off limits, no, the cops were probably already there.

He just had to keep walking, he'll find some place to rest for the night if he just kept on walking. Looking around, Carman kicked a rock out of his way. It scuttled a bit before stopping about a yard away. When he passed it a second time, he ignored it and stuffed both hands in his pockets. Biting his lower lip, Carman shut his eyes for a few seconds and swallowed a hard lump in his throat. Reopening his eyes, Carman shook his head and continued to walk. A blast of wind caused Carman to stop briefly and huddle up a bit. God, he was cold.

He paused for a moment, he heard it, the sound of a car approaching. Taking a deep breath, Carman quickly ran off of the road, choosing to hide in a small patch of trees. Carman felt the familiar sting of a mosquito, without thinking, he slapped his hand on his arm. He felt the bug squish beneath his hand. Bringing his hand up, even in the inky blackness of night, he could see the small bit of blood from the insect smeared on his hand.

Taking in several giant gulps of air, he felt his lower lip quiver, and his hand started to violently tremble. There was blood on his hand, it had to be human blood too, the mosquito looked plump. A small noise escaped his mouth, breathing heavily, Carman did his best to calm down. Once his breathing got right, he rubbed his hand on his shirt and shook his head from side to side. It was just someone's blood, he'd seen blood before. He was freaking out over nothing. Even though his breathing was even, his heart was still pounding in his chest.

He walked back up towards the road, he can see the red rear lights of the back of the car fade away. Taking a deep breath, he looked around. There were no houses on the street, heck the street he was on wasn't even paved. He had no idea where he was, he knew that he was far from his home. He didn't know how far, but, far enough to already miss his parents. Crossing his arms, he walked on, keeping his head down for a few minutes.

Damn that throwaway! this was all his fault! He shouldn't of...Of...He shouldn't of been so damn stupid! That's all that throwaway was! He was just plain stupid!

Growling, Carman shook his head from side to side. Looking up, he turned his head towards the left, there wasn't anything on the left, just a thick bunch of trees. Sighing, he watched the trees as he walked. The wind picked up a bit it made him feel colder than before. Still, he couldn't stop walking, at least not until he found a place to sleep. He almost looked back down at the road again, but, did a double take back to the trees.

Just a little bit up a head there was some salvation, a tree house! Taking a deep breath in, he jogged up to the tree house. Once under it, he looked around, no houses anywhere around, no idea what a random tree house was doing here, but hey, it was better than sleeping on the ground. the house had a roof too, so if it rained, at least he wouldn't get drenched. There wasn't a ladder, but a rope. Jumping up, he grasped the rope and kicked his feet a bit before he started climbing up. Once up high enough, he grasped the wooden floor and hoisted himself up. Once in, he let out a soft sigh. The house wasn't that wide, in fact, if he laid down his feet would touch one wall while his head touched the other wall, he couldn't even stand up or his head would hit the roof. He smiled a bit when he saw that there were two pillows and a dusty blanket up here as well.

Crawling towards the pillows and blankets, there was a window right next to them, it had a good view of the moon. Looking at the moon, he tilted his head, he could something flying passed the moon, it was too far to make out. It looked like a bird of some sort, but, at the same time it didn't. It flew straight passed the moon, Carman noticed a silvery color shine off of the animal. Huh, he didn't know any birds with that kind of color. Shaking his head, he rubbed his eyes, he was tired and just wanted to sleep. Not caring if there where any spiders or bugs resting on the blanket, he laid under it, and rested his head on the dirty pillows.

He was a sleep before he even knew it.

Carman woke up smacking himself on the leg. His eyes felt heavy as they adjusted a bit, it still being dark out, he could almost go back to sleep again if it wasn't for the stinging pain he was feeling on his legs. Sitting up a bit, his back stiff and sore, he did his best to look at his legs. At first glace nothing seemed wrong, until he placed his hand down on one of his legs and a black mass of mosquito's flew away from it. Letting out a startled cry, Carman started kicking his legs until there was a giant black cloud of mosquito's fluttering around him. Without thinking, he jumped out of the tree house through the opening in the floor. Luckily he landed on his feet and didn't break or sprain anything. He was sure it had something to do with his athletic-ness.

Taking heavy breaths, he stood up straight and started batting his legs and arms, making sure all of the bugs are off of him. Looking up at the sky, he could tell that it was pretty early, maybe around three or four in the morning. If that's the case, then he didn't sleep for long. He was too tired to walk away from the tree house, hell, he was too tired to even so much as climb back up the tree house. Walking back to the tree, he rested against the damp bark and shut his eyes. Taking a deep breath, Carman felt himself doze off a bit. His neck muscles turned limp and his head hung down. Just like before, he didn't get to sleep long, unlike last time, what woke him wasn't bugs, but the sound of a police siren.

Carman's head snapped up, he could see the red and blue lights of the cop car. He couldn't run anymore. Walking up to the car, he kept his hands in the air and his head down. The cop lights died down and a police officer stepped out. The officer was first to speak. Carman recognized the cop's voice, it was Officer Rittman Gold, one of Carman's dad's friends.

"Boy. Do you know how much trouble you are in?" Rittman asked Carman, the boy slowly looked up at the officer. Taking a deep breath, he said the first thing that came to his mind.

"I never meant to kill him..."

Rittman looked at him and walked up to the boy.

"What are you talking about, son?"

"Ben...I pushed him and he hit the back of his head, I didn't mean to kill him!" Carman yelled at the officer, trying to keep himself leveled and cool headed, but he was finding it difficult.

"You children, you watch way too much TV for your own good." Was all Rittman could say to Carman as he shook his head. It made the dark haired boy look at the cop in front of him.

"Huh?"

"Benjamin Greenbloom isn't dead, you simply knocked him out, did you even check his pulse?"

"He's not dead?" Carman asked, feeling a pressure remove from his shoulders, he didn't kill Ben.

"Heavens No! Now, you did send him to the hospital, but, he's not dead. Like I said, children spend too much time watching TV and sitting at the computer...Now, come with me, son, and no, you don't have to sit in the back."

"Are you taking me home?" Carman asked, his voice filled with hope, god he wanted to go home and sleep. His hope was shattered when Rittman shook his head.

"Barnabas wants to speak to you."

Carman walked up to the car, before getting in, he had to ask one final question.

"Barnabas?"

"Benjamin's adoptive father. He's not exactly happy that his son is currently in the hospital, even less happy to find out that his son has been being bullied for the past year."


	6. Chapter 6

Carman scratched angrily at his legs, little red bumps swelling up all over his legs, arms, and face. Rittman looked over at Carman and chuckled a bit.

"Luckily for you, son, Barnabas is at the hospital, I'm sure the nurses could give you something for those bites." Rittman told him, Carman said nothing as he continued to scratch vigorously at his bug bites, a few of them started to bleed a bit. Rittman stopped the squad car at a stoplight and slapped Carman's hands. "Stop that, you're only making it worse...I have to ask. Why?"

Looking at the officer, Carman tilted his head slightly.

"Why what?"

"Why bully that kid? Carman, you're a good kid, I expected better of you." Rittman scolded him as the light turned green, Carman frowned and looked down at his dirty hands.

"I don't know, he...He's weird!"

"And? What else? what warranted the abuse he got from you, Carman?"

Carman couldn't say anything, he just continued to stare at his hands, picking at his finger nails, he couldn't thing of anything to say, nothing he could say could justify why he was bullying Ben. If anything, it would probably make things worse. Rittman didn't press anymore, the officer just let out a sigh and shook his head from side to side.

The officer turned into hospital driveway, nobody said anything as he parked in a vacant parking spot. Once the engine was off, the two of them got out of the car. The moment Carman stepped out of the car, his stomach rumbled.

"C'mon son, lets not dilly dally." Rittman grumbled to Carman, putting his hand on the boy's shoulder. Carman looked down and started to walk towards the giant building. With his gaze on the ground, the boy felt his breath hitch a bit, he could feel his doom rise. What was Mr. Greenbloom going to do to him?

They entered the building, the place was busy with nurses and random people bustling about. The smell of bleach and disinfectant made his nose burn slightly. Rubbing his nose slightly, the two of them walked up to the desk, where a nurse was on the phone. Before Rittman could say anything, the nurse put her index finger up, telling the two of them to be quiet.

"Uh-huh...mmm...Alright...Alright, I'll talk to you later, ok, bye." The nurse then hung up the phone and looked at the two of them. "Can I help you two?" She asked them, Rittman cleared his throat and reached into his back pocket, Carman watched as he showed the woman his badge and gave her a smile.

"We need to see Benjamin Greenbloom." Rittman said, the nurse looked at the badge, then turned her attention towards her computer, after a few seconds of typing, she looked back at the two of them. Carman let out a soft breath, he could feel his doom slowly rise.

"Mr. Greenbloom is in room 44D, you need to take the elevator up to the third floor and make a left, he's down that hallway." She told them with a soft smile, Rittman smiled back at her and leaned on the counter a bit.

"Thanks, sweetie, tell me, his father is spending the night with him, right?" Rittman asked, that made Carman actually do a double take at the officer, he didn't know if Mr. Greenbloom was here or not!?

"Uhhh...I'm afraid that I have no knowledge of that, I guess you'll know when you get up there." She told them, Rittman nodded and lead Carman towards the elevator.

"You don't know if he's here or not?!" Carman snapped at the officer once the elevator doors shut. The machine started to move upwards, Rittman glared at the boy and rolled his eyes.

"I'm sure he's here, I just wanted to be...you know...Sure." Rittman grumbled at the pre-teen, Carman crossed his arms, he could see the swollen bug bites that littered both his arms. Unconsciously, he started to lightly scratch at the bumps. After about thirty more seconds in the elevator, it came to a stop on the third floor, the doors opened, as the two of them walked out, two other people walked in. Paying them no mind, they started down the hallway.

It didn't take long for them to see a figure at the end of the hallway, before they even made it up to the person, Carman knew that it was Mr. Greenbloom. The red hair kind of gave it away. He felt his heart beat heavily in his chest as they got closer and closer to the man. For the first time in a long time, Carman actually felt afraid. He was also a bit curious, why was Mr. Greenbloom out here and not in the room with Ben?

"Professor, look who I found on the road." Rittman said out loud, making Carman look and glare at the officer. The elder man snapped his head up and looked at the two, the professor said nothing as the two of them got closer. Swallowing a lump in his throat, Carman wanted to turn around and run again, but, he didn't. Even he knew that he messed up, he had to do the right thing, even if he didn't want to.

"Alright, thank you officer Gold." The professor said to the officer with a nod. With little to know warning, Rittman Gold turned around and walked off, making Carman look at him.

"I'm going to get a coffee, I'll be back in a few." Rittman said, with a hand wave, Carman wanted to yell at the officer, he didn't want to be left alone with Ben's adoptive father. Still, he held his tongue and turned to face the elder man.

Barnabas's face held no emotion as he stared at Carman.

Before Carman could say anything, the professor spoke to the smaller boy.

"What do you know? About Ben, I mean. Aside from the obvious, of course." The professor said, Carman blinked, he could only stare at the man for a few seconds before only saying one word in response.

"What?"

He expected the professor to start yelling at him, or, something, not to calmly asked him a question.

"What do you know about Ben? Aside from the fact that he was adopted?" The man asked again, only slower. Carman didn't know how to respond to that, truthfully because he really didn't know anything about Ben, besides the obvious. There was a few seconds of silence between the two of them, Carman looked down at the ground. He then felt a hand on his shoulder. Looking up at the professor, Carman looked away.

Barnabas let out a soft sigh and spoke.

"Walk with me, we have much to talk about."

The two of them started to walk, after a few seconds of silence, the professor broke the ice.

"I know, Ben will kill me for telling you this, but, I think it's for the best that you know, it might give you a little more insight on Ben."

"That I know what?" Carman asked as the two of them continued to walk.

"That Ben didn't live in an orphanage when we adopted him."

Carman tilted his head at the older man, why was that important?

"Then, where did he live?" Carman found himself asking, the professor let out a soft sigh and looked at the smaller boy. What he said next made Carman frown even more.

"He didn't live anywhere, you see, Ben was living on the streets."

The silence that followed was beyond uncomfortable. Carman didn't know what to say or do. For some reason, he thought back to earlier that day, when Ben had yelled at him.

'The only things you know about me is that I was adopted, and my name!'

"...I...I can't say that I didn't want to hurt him, because, I did...In many ways, but, when I thought I killed him...I..." Carman looked down once again, the professor stopped walking, causing Carman to stop as well. Following the professor's gaze, Carman found himself looking out the window, the moon shone brightly in front of the two of them. The boy blinked when he saw a familiar silver bird like creature flying in front of the moon.

"That's one strange bird." Carman commented as the moon reflected off of the bird's strange silver feathers, the man just chuckled softly and shook his head a bit. "I wonder where it's going..." Carman muttered, much to his surprise the professor spoke.

"I have a clue...But, I'm not a hundred percent sure..."

After a few seconds of silence, Carman looked at the professor.

"So...am I going to jail?" Carman asked slightly fearful. The professor didn't answer him, instead, he asked another question.

"Why bully Ben?"

A question that seems to be popping up a lot. A question that he had no answer to, nothing he could say could ever explain why. When he didn't answer, Barnabas spoke again.

"Would you like to see him?"

That really threw Carman for a loop, out of all the questions, he didn't expect that one. He found himself shaking his head from side to side.

"No...No...I can't." He muttered softly.

"Nobody else is in the room besides him and myself, also, he's a sleep, so he won't see you...Also, it's Ben, he's harmless, well, mostly harmless, Just don't attack or harm Guinevere, then again, I'm sure you know about that."

Carman let out a shaky breath, then, he shut his eyes.

"C'mon, I promise, nothing bad will happen to you, if on the off chance that Ben does wake, he won't attack you, you have my word on that." The professor said softly and started to lead Carman towards Ben's room. After a second, Carman spoke again.

"If I would of known that he was going to hit his head, I wouldn't of pushed him...I'm sorry...I shouldn't of pushed him to began with."

"...You should tell that to Ben, not to me."

Carman knew that Mr. Greenbloom was right, the thing was, did he have the courage to do it? Apologize to the victim, fighting was easy, apologizing for the fight...That's hard.


End file.
